iDefend You
by VioletDreamCatcher
Summary: Sam is falsely accused of vandalizing the school. Will the one person who can prove she is innocent be able to save her from being expelled?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Prologue

Although the day I had first met Sam Puckett was years ago, it left a lasting impression on me. It was my first day at Ridgeway Elementary School and my mother had just brought me to the playground and gave me a goodbye kiss on the cheek. A group of five taller, bigger boys surrounded me almost as soon as she was out of sight.

"Aw, does the new little boy need his mommy to hold his little hand and kiss him bye, bye," a redheaded boy mocked.

I stood at my full height, which unfortunately wasn't very tall back then and said, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." The group dissolved into laughter. "What a dork!"

Though I tried not to take the comment to heart, it still hurt. Not even ten minutes at my new school and I was already being picked on. I attempted to push away from them, my eyes stinging with tears.

"What's wrong, kiddo," said the redheaded leader as he pulled me back by my backpack, "we're just having a little fun."

Out of nowhere, I heard something that sounded like a primitive war cry. The cry was accompanied by a flash of blonde, curly hair. Before I knew it the screaming girl with the blonde hair had knocked the redhead backwards, forcing him to let go of me. I fell to the ground with a thud.

"Hey what's your problem—"

"Don't even start with me. If I catch you messing with this boy again, I'm gonna do a double fist dance on your face!" she pointed to the other boys, "and that goes for all of you!"

The ringleader smirked, "Why would we be afraid of a little girl like you?"

She smirked, twisted his arm behind his back, and again sent him to the ground, despite his struggling. It was impressive considering she was much smaller than him.

"Did I convince you or do I need to step it up a little," the blonde asked, still holding onto him.

"Come on, guys. This girl's a freak!" The redhead said as he slipped out of her grip. The gang scattered.

She looked satisfied for a minute, then turned to me. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked in a gentle voice, nothing like the one she had used while yelling at the gang. She bent down to where I was still sitting on the pavement. "I hope I didn't hurt you when I pushed you away from that jerk."

"No, you didn't. You're the nicest person I've met at this school so far."

"Hey, don't let that get out. I've got a rep to maintain. Names Puckett. Sam Puckett."

"I'm Freddie Benson." I replied.

"Well, Freddie, you're not going to sit on the ground all day are you?" Sam offered her hand and helped me up. I realized in annoyance that I was only a little taller than her shoulder. If I didn't have a growth spurt soon so help me…

"I better go," Sam said, interrupting my thoughts, "I promised to meet my friend Carly in the parking lot when her brother drops her off. You're welcome to come with me."

"I would, but I have to take some papers to the office." I said.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you around then."

"See you, Sam, and thanks for you know, defending me, even though we barely know each other."

Sam smiled, "No problem. Five guys against one wasn't fair. And Freddie, if they mess with you again you can come to me. No one is going to hurt you on my watch."

That was an ironic statement, I thought as I remembered that day while daydreaming in Computer Science. Since Sam had spent a considerable amount of time over the years hurting me herself, it was very ironic. It all started when Sam introduced me to Carly, who I later found out to be my neighbor, at lunch. I had a little crush on Carly right away and I may have accidentally excluded Sam from the conversation. Sam retaliated by "accidentally" leaving a piece of pizza on my chair when I got up to throw my trash away. She became a different person, always teasing me, especially when we started iCarly and were forced to spend time together. Only rarely when we were alone or would share glances with one another would she become the girl who defended me. I once told myself I only put up with Sam because of Carly. The truth was I knew that deep down Sam had a kind, vulnerable side and didn't really mean me any real harm. Ever since iCarly ended and Carly left for Italy she has shown that side to me more and more. That's the Sam I know, deep down, even though she puts up a mask for the world to keep her reputation. It's also why I know I'm not crazy for having dated her, and for still loving her no matter what goes down between us. Wait, _still_ loving her? Did I seriously just think that?

**Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any of the characters created for iCarly by Dan Schneider. I only own this story, the back story of how Sam and Freddie met, and unfortunately, the bullies, including the redheaded kid that picks on Freddie. Chapter 2 will be up soon! Please review if you have any questions or comments and favorite if you enjoyed this chapter! Flames will be stomped out by Sam.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The bell rang, forcing me to leave class and go out in the hallway still in my daze of thoughts. I couldn't still have feelings for Sam. Carly kissed me before leaving Seattle to be with her dad in Italy. That meant I was going to be with Carly one day, right?

"I'm telling you, I didn't do it!" a familiar, distressed voice cried out, breaking my thoughts. I ran down the hall to see Sam run out of the principal's office with Ms. Briggs closely following. I vaguely remembered Sam's name being called over the loudspeakers while I was in class.

The hallway became silent as my fellow students gathered around to watch the exchange.

"I am not stupid, Samantha," said Ms. Briggs, "there is too much evidence against you to fool me. I can't say I'm surprised it was you that wrote a very unflattering comment about me on the side of the school."

Half of the students in the hallway left to check outside for the damages. I, however, stayed put, my heart pounding.

"All I can say is that I was nowhere near this school last night. You can believe it or not, but it's the truth." Sam said, exasperated.

"Well," Ms. Briggs stated, "we spoke with Gibby and a few of the other hooligans that you hang out with. Several sources say you mysteriously left after school and could not be contacted all night long. We also called your mother, who couldn't even keep track of her meatloaf, much less her own daughter."

Sam was boiling with anger, "You leave my mother out of this! I'm outta here." She turned to leave in a huff, only to have Ms. Briggs try to grab her by the shoulder, pulling her hair instead. Sam jumped back. "Ow, hair."

I marched toward them angrily. I hated it when people pulled on Sam's hair. "Stop it right now, Miss Briggs!" I grabbed the teacher's arm forcing her to release Sam's hair. Ms. Briggs's mouth was wide open.

"Fredward Benson, what has gotten into you?"

"What has gotten into y_ou,_ Ms. Briggs? I don't care what how unflattering a comment you _think_ was written by Sam, it still doesn't give you the right to physically harass a student by pulling on her hair. I _will _report you, no matter how this goes." I growled through clenched teeth. Sam looked impressed and surprised at my bravado.

"I admit I did go too far, but this still does not concern you, Mr. Benson."

"You may think that, but I happen to know Sam's exact whereabouts last night, and she was not vandalizing our school." I glanced at Sam nervously for approval. She nodded for me to go on. "Sam and I were together all night last night."

The world seemed to stop spinning for an instant. Several people gasped. I heard a faint 'They're dating again! Seddie for the WIN!' in the distance.

I cringed and continued, "Ugh, not like that! We were at my house and I was helping her with her Trigonometry homework. We fell asleep in my living room. Sam had a spare change of clothes with her so we came straight to school together. Sam couldn't have done anything because she was with me the entire time." I said, confident that this nonsense was over.

"Interesting story," a voice chimed in, "too bad it didn't happen that way."

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but this story and any original characters. iCarly belongs to Dan Schneider.**

**A/N: This story takes place during Sam and Freddie's senior year, which explains why Sam is taking trigonometry. I remember having to take trig *shudders*. In case you're wondering, this story will mostly focus on the friendship between Freddie and Sam, but Freddie is definitely having some romantic feelings toward her again. Carly (sort of) makes an appearance in an upcoming chapter! Chapter 3 should be up later today or tomorrow. Please review, and favorite and follow if you want to know what happens next! It makes my day when someone likes my story, and makes me feel good for continuing the iCarly fandom. Thanks for reading and have a great day! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

I stood silent and angry as the person who had spoken these words appeared. It was none other than Lanny Forester, the new kid who had given Sam and me trouble since the day he had walked into Ridgeway High School three months ago, and we had never even said two words to the guy. Strangely, he took a liking to Ms. Briggs, quickly becoming the closest she had to favorite student.

"Do you really think Sam Puckett would be studying trig when she's alone with Freddie Benson?" Lanny asked. I shot him a glare that I think even rivaled the one that Sam was giving him. "And I say _alone _because I happen to know that Mrs. Benson is at a nurse's meeting in Atlanta this week, leaving Fredwardo alone in his apartment. There would be no one around to be sure that Sam did not sneak off in the night while Freddie was sleeping."

Besides wondering how, and why, he had gotten such information, I wanted to punch him because it forced me to reveal one of the most embarrassing things that my mom does. _Do it for Sam._ "Sam couldn't have left. My mom has an alarm on our door that keeps me from leaving the apartment until I have to leave for school at seven in the morning. She activated it from her Pearphone after I called her to say goodnight last night."

Several students in the hallway snickered. The warning bell went off to deaf ears.

"But isn't Sam a mastermind?" argued Lanny "She could have disarmed the alarm and got out of the apartment undetected. This explains this picture that was found slid under the principal's door this morning!" He forced a picture into our faces. To the untrained eye, it almost looked like a legit picture of Sam sneaking away from the courtyard with a can of spray paint in her hand. I, however could tell the thing was Photodocked.

The tardy bell rang at that moment, but only a few students made a move to leave for their next class, too captivated by the scene that I unfortunately was a part of. The students who had ran off to check out the vandalism were still outside. Mrs. Briggs grew even more annoyed.

"Any student who is not part of this discussion will face detention if they are not in class within the next three minutes. Benson, Puckett, and Forester, we will move this conversation to the principal's office," said Ms. Briggs.

Sam and I dragged our feet into the office while Lanny walked proudly. We plopped into our seats. Ms. Briggs sat down at the desk in front of us.

"Hey, where's Mr. Franklin?" I asked

"Mr. Franklin is away at a conference for the next two days. I will be taking over his duties during that time," said the teacher.

"How convenient," I muttered before saying out loud, "You do realize that the photo Lanny has is Photodocked, right?"

"Photodocked?" Ms. Briggs asked incredulously.

"Yeah, you know like what I used to make it look like you had the body of a rhino a few years ago." Sam said with a smirk.

"Sam!" I exclaimed.

"Ha, I knew it was you and not Carly!" Ms. Briggs exclaimed.

"No, it _was_ Carly who did that! Sam was just being Sam." I exclaimed "Anyway, this photo was obviously Photodocked, and not very well."

Sam looked at the photo. "Whoever did this must've used a pretty old photo. I don't even have this hoodie anymore."

"I think that if we looked hard enough we would find the source photo. It's probably either from the yearbook or . I think that Sam was framed," I told them.

"We could, but we'd be wasting our time. Sam has proven that time and time again with her criminal antics and her dislike for my aunt."

"Your aunt?" Sam and I said in unison. I noticed that Lanny's hair was the exact same shade of red as Ms. Briggs's. _This explains why Lanny and Ms. Briggs are so close_.

"Yes," said Ms. Briggs, "And I agree with my nephew. Sam doesn't exactly have the cleanest criminal record."

"Oh, so you two just assume I did it just because I've done bad things in the past? What happened to 'innocent until proven guilty' and all that other chiz? Doesn't this school have security cameras? " Sam asked.

"Not in that location. I'm sorry Sam, but you're just going to have to be suspended until Mr. Franklin gets back," Ms. Briggs said, without an ounce of remorse in her voice.

"Nothing new," she replied. Only I could hear the sadness in her voice.

"What if we find the culprit?" I asked confident that we could.

"I find that highly unlikely, but if you do not prove Sam's innocence there is a chance she will be expelled due to her other behavior," said the teacher.

"Expelled?!" Sam exclaimed, "I haven't even done anything that bad this year!"

"You should have thought about that before you vandalized the school." Lanny said scornfully.

"For the millionth time, I DID NOT DO IT. Do you not understand English?" Sam shouted, hitting her hand on the picture on the desk and standing up.

I nervously stood up as well. "If you suspend her, you can suspend me, too!"

Sam turned to me, "Freddie, don't be an idiot! What about your attendance record?"

"Relax, Sam, I want to." I gave her a genuine smile. I was sure we would catch the person responsible for the vandalism, then Mr. Franklin would come back and take it off my permanent record. At least I hoped that last part.

"Yeah, don't be an idiot, Fredwardo," Lanny said, rolling his eyes, "What would the grounds for suspension even be anyway?"

"I guess I'll just be leaving school early then!" I said nervously.

Sam grabbed the picture off the desk and handed it to me, "No, he's suspended for doing this. Run, Freddie!"

I took the picture and sprinted out the door with Sam at my heels.

"Mr. Benson, you are suspended as well! Now bring back that picture!" I heard Ms. Briggs shout behind us.

I kept running. I didn't know what was up with me today. Maybe it was adrenaline, or maybe I was going through belated teenage rebellion. At that moment I didn't care about what my mother would say when she found out. Mr. Franklin would understand. I hoped. All I cared about was proving Sam's innocence over this one thing I knew for sure she didn't do.

I glanced at Sam. Her hair was a mess, she had a mischievous look in her eyes and she was laughing as she ran. At that moment, I realized that maybe, just maybe, all that was up with me was that I was (still) in love with this girl.

**A/N: I don't own iCarly, I only own this story and any original characters. I know Freddie may seem a bit out of character in this story, but I imagine that with Carly in Italy, Freddie may stop being such a goody-goody. I figure Sam has rubbed off on him quite a bit and he's become braver, standing up for her because no one else will. By the way, he won't forget his threat to report Ms. Briggs for pulling Sam's hair back in chapter 2. I apologize for this chapter going up later than I said it would. School, work, and life kinda got in the way of me updating. Ms. Briggs' nephew sure is a pain, huh? His name was totally made up and any resemblance to a real person is pure coincidence. Also, I just had to make a reference to the first episode when I mentioned 'Photodocking' in this story.**

**I appreciate any constructive criticism I get because it helps my writing, so thanks. Be on the lookout for chapter 4 sometime over the weekend! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

"Holy chiz, I've had enough!"

I looked up to see Sam toss the yearbook she was holding. After our dramatic exit from the school we went straight to my place to look at old yearbooks and pictures on the iCarly website. We were laying on the floor with the Photodocked photo between us and a mountain of yearbooks surrounding us. An empty bucket of fried chicken sat by Sam's side. It had been a two hours and so far none of the pictures of Sam matched the one that had been Photodocked. I decided to try and calm Sam down before this got ugly.

"Sam, we just need to be patient. We're gonna find the picture." I said.

"And what if we don't? I'm sick of sitting here trying to find evidence that someone's framing me. We need to do something more!"

"And what would that be?"

"I don't know. You're the computer genius! Ugh, I'm gonna get some more food," She said as she went to the kitchen.

I decided to power up my laptop. I was really thinking now: maybe there was more I could do. Ms. Briggs had claimed that there were no cameras near the vandalism, but that didn't mean there wasn't one that could've caught sight of a person sneaking into the courtyard. I would need to hack into the school's security system and find the footage for last night. A muffled sound interrupted my thoughts.

Worried, I got up and went into the kitchen. Sam was kneeling, with her head and upper body in the refrigerator. The sounds she was making told me she was either crying or munching on some ham, or both.

"Sam, are you okay?" I asked, concerned. I wanted to kick myself for having to ask. _Of course she's not._

She turned around, a slice of ham in her mouth. Tears were running down her face as she finished her ham and said, "No, Freddiccino, I'm crying. Got a problem with it?"

"I don't have a problem with you crying," I said kneeling down to her level. "I'm just a bit surprised. The only time I've ever seen you cry was when you had a near-death experience."

"Well, my life might as well be over. It's our senior year, Freddie. If I get expelled I'm probably going to end up never finishing high school. I'm probably going to end up just like my mother." She put her head back into the fridge to cry. My heart broke. I should be comforting her, not an appliance. I decided to risk Sam's wrath and gently put an arm around her.

Sam didn't push me away. She took her head out of the fridge and I sat on the floor, taking her into my arms. I let her cry into my chest for as long as she needed to. She was tightly squeezing my arms, so much that I figured I'd have bruises the next day, not that that mattered. All I wanted to do was comfort her. After a while the sobs stopped, and I figured she was asleep as quiet as she was.

"Freddie?" Sam said softly.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for holding me and just letting me blubber. No one has ever done that for me before. It really meant a lot."

"No problem. What are friends for?" I wanted to say more, but somehow I couldn't. I didn't want to tell her I still had feelings for her, not yet. Not like this. I kept my arms around her and she didn't budge.

"I know it seems weird for me to be crying over school, considering who I am," Sam continued, "but I found out that my mom never finished high school and it scares me to death. I mean, I know she tries to hold down a job now, but I don't want my life to be like hers. I never told anyone this, but was hoping to become a chef someday, not a high school dropout."

I tried to reassure her, "You won't end up like your mother. You will become a chef someday, which by the way is an excellent career choice. We're going to catch the person that's messing with you. Then I'm going to help you start looking at colleges that have good culinary arts programs."

"How do you know it will work out?" Sam asked, the fire in her eyes returning.

"Because, you've been in worse situations than this and somehow made it out of them. You're a fighter and I respect that. Plus, you're not alone." I gave her a little smile.

Sam laughed softly.

"What?" I asked, chuckling.

"Um, nothing." She answered playfully.

"Tell me" I said, tickling her side. We were still cuddled up together. If anyone were around to see us now they would think we were still a couple.

"I was just thinking about how weird our friendship is."

I chuckled in agreement, "Yeah, I know. In the course of it I've been slapped, kicked, screamed at, and even kissed."

She looked into my eyes, "I've put you through everything and you still stick around. Freddie, I- I really appreciate you being here for me. You have no idea."

Before I could think to respond, we heard the Skype ringtone going off in the living room. Sam got up first, and I instantly missed having her in my arms. _Why did turn on that computer_, I thought as we went to answer it. _Whoever is calling better be pretty important for ruining that moment. _

Sam got to the laptop first and sat on the couch beside it. She smiled when she looked at the screen. "It's Carly!"

I sat down beside Sam. I was excited to hear from Carly, and not for the reason I usually would have been. I clicked on the button to answer with video.

Carly appeared on the screen, "Freddie, Sam! It's so good to see you guys!"

"Hey, good to see you too, Carly," I said.

"How's Italy treating you, Carls?" Sam asked.

Carly smiled, "It's awesome. I started school here and I've met a ton of cool people. Listen, one of reasons I'm calling is because I got three hundred Splashface messages today from students at Ridgeway about you guys."

Sam and I exchanged a sheepish glance. "What did the messages say?" I asked, pretty much knowing the answer.

"They ranged from 'Puckett and Benson got suspended today.' to 'Sam got blamed for something she actually didn't do for once' to 'OMG Seddie! Seddie! Seddie!'" Carly answered in amusement, doing a different voice for each one.

"Well, there is some truth to those." Sam answered, "See, some punk vandalized the outside of the school. This person wrote something pretty bad about Ms. Briggs. Anyway, she's all cheesed off and blames me for it, and even though I've never even seen it and don't even know what it says. Freddie stepped up and defended me, but I still got suspended. There's also a picture that was photodocked to look like I actually did it. Freddie grabbed it and got himself suspended as well, so now were looking to find the photo it was made from."

Carly's eyes got wide, "Whoa. So is it also true that you two are dating again and spent the whole night together last night?"

"We spent the night together, but we are NOT dating again." Sam said clearly.

My face fell a bit at her tone when she said that. "Yeah, we were spending the night doing trig homework and we fell asleep, honest," I added.

"You guys know it's okay with me if you two date again, right?" Carly asked. I couldn't believe Carly was worried about that when Sam was in trouble like this.

"Um, yes. But we're not." Sam said.

"Oh-kay." Carly said, sounding like she didn't believe us. "Is there anything I can do to help all the way from here."

"Yes," I said, "Can you look on the iCarly website for any pictures of Sam that match this one. I'll scan it and send it to you later." I held up the picture to the camera.

"Yeah sure. It's evening for me now so it's no problem."

"What time is it there anyway?"

"It's 9:15pm now. So do you guys need any, I don't know, spy gear or disguises? Because there's some in the old iCarly studio."

"We might eventually," I answered, "but we can't get them because Spencer's in France." After about a month after Carly had left, Sasha Striker showed up once again. She and Spencer were dating now and traveling the world together.

Sam stood up, "Leave it all to me."

"You're gonna break into our apartment, aren't you?" Carly deadpanned.

"With your permission."

"Lock it back up when you're done," Carly answered.

Sam ran out of the apartment, happy to be doing something fun and bad that was actually okay. Carly and I chucked when we heard the happy sound she made when she got the door open.

"So, Freddie," Carly said, "There's something I've been meaning to tell you."

"Shoot" I said, still smiling from Sam's antics.

"I made a mistake by kissing you before I left."

**A/N: Ouch!** **Who want's to hear that? Anyway, you have no idea how sorry I am for the lack of updates. From now on I'm not going to make promises about updates, but I will say that I'm going to have more time to write since I'm on Thanksgiving break this week. I'm already planning a sequel to this story, which will possibly be written from Sam's point of view. Don't worry, several more chapters are left to this one! I admit I'm loving the Sam and Freddie moments in this story, but I guess that's understandable since I'm the one writing them. Please Review, Favorite and/or Follow if you so desire and you're enjoying this! Thanks for reading and as always, I don't own iCarly, I only own this story!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The smile disappeared from my face. Why was Carly bringing this up now? To be honest, I sort of knew we would be having this conversation one day, but why now?

Carly continued, "I only did it because I wanted to give you a big goodbye that you would remember. I don't know what I was thinking, by leading you on like that. I've been feeling guilty about it since I left."

What was I supposed to say? 'It's okay, Carly, for getting my hopes up and then crushing them over and over again.' I finally asked, "Why are you telling me this now?"

"Because," Carly said, "I want you to be happy. When I heard Sam and you might be dating again I was happy for the two of you. I know you've been confused about your feelings for the two of us for a while now, and part of it's my fault."

_Or all of it_, I thought. "Sam and I are not dating, Carly."

"Freddie, if you and Sam really wanted to date again, I don't want to get in the way of it." Carly continued, "The truth is, I don't like you that way, and never will, so I don't want you to have your hopes up. I'm sorry for kissing and flirting with you and confusing you even more."

I rolled my eyes._ Gee, thanks for another rejection I didn't even ask for. _"Carly, the truth is, I haven't really liked you like that for some time now. I realized I'm still in love with Sam."

Carly's eyes got big, "Did you just say 'love'? Awww! What is going on there that I don't know about?!"

I laughed, "A lot is going on. I'm going to take it slow though. I'm not even sure she feels the same way."

"She does. Trust me. She has to. You two were meant for each other." Carly insisted.

"If you say so," I said though in my head I was hoping it was true, "Now, let me go ahead and scan this picture so you can have a copy to help us." I picked it up and took it to my scanner.

"Okay. So are you guys planning on going to Senior Prom together?"

"Carly!"

"What? I'm just asking. It would be cute." She said innocently.

"Well, now that you mentioned it…" The thought made me smile. "But I don't want Sam to hear you say that! Taking it slow, remember? Besides, I need to keep her from being expelled before I can even think about that. "

"Okay, Mr. Snappypants."

Sam came back in at that moment, with two duffel bags of spy gear and iCarly props in tow.

"Did you have trouble finding anything?" Carly asked.

"Not really, it was all boxed up together in a pile." Sam answered.

"It's sad," I said as I picked up a black curly wig that was hanging out of one of the bags, "to not be using this crazy stuff for iCarly anymore."

Sam and Carly mumbled in agreement. I decided to tell them the idea that I came up with before I went to go comfort Sam earlier.

"So I was thinking…"

"Don't hurt yourself, Benson." Sam said with a grin.

I grinned back, "I was thinking that there must be a camera at the school that would have caught a person sneaking into the courtyard, even if it wasn't near the vandalism. All I need to do is hack into the school website and try and get the surveillance footage from last night."

"And then you can prove I'm innocent! Get on it, boy!" Sam exclaimed.

I brought up the school website, making sure my IP address was untraceable. I smiled to myself as I remembered the mess Sam had created when she changed our grades years ago, and how scared Carly and I were when we were caught trying to change them back. I now knew how to avoid being traced when hacking into a website, but I chose to only hack in an emergency such as this one. After about ten minutes, I found a playlist of all the cameras used by the school's security system. Now to find the right footage...

"Okay Sam, help me look. Carly, just listen."

"Wish I was there to do more…" Carly said sadly.

Sam and I were leaned over my computer, closely looking at each video for last night. We saw nothing until…

"Hey what's that?" Sam asked, pointing.

I narrowed my eyebrows, as I paused the video and made it full screen. I replayed it slowly.

"Whoa, what-" I started to ask in confusion.

"That's impossible!" Sam replied in horror.

**If Sam is horrified it must be bad! What do you think it is? Trust me, it's pretty freaky. Also, I think that Carly owed Freddie that apology, because she did lead him on with that kiss, in my opinion. I've always liked Freddie and Carly better as friends anyway. Now that Freddie has some closure he's free to pursue his feelings for a certain blonde, but will she respond the way he wants her to? Follow/Favorite/Comment if you wish! I don't own iCarly, just this story!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I replayed the clip over and over again. I looked over at Sam, who was still frozen with a mixture of confusion and horror on her face. I was sure my expression mirrored hers.

"Hello, I'm still on Skype wondering what's going on!" Carly chimed in.

I took the video off of full screen and pulled up Skype again. "There's someone that looks a lot like Sam on that video."

"Oh my gosh. Enough like Sam to look like Melanie possibly? But she's too good and nice…"

Sam finally spoke. "I know this looks bad, but that's not me! I was sleeping here all night last night! You have to believe me!" Sam said, almost pleading.

I went back to the video and shook my head at the Sam doppelganger on the screen. It didn't look so much like Sam after looking away from it for awhile. "Oh, I know it's not. They're way too tall and the hair's all wrong. It couldn't be you or your sister, if that person on the screen is even a girl. Not to be weird, but this person's kinda manly-looking. Trust me, I'd know you anywhere and that's not you."

I thought I caught Sam blushing for a second. I smiled back.

"Aw," Carly said.

"Yeah, but how are we gonna prove that to everyone else?" Sam asked.

"I think we should go to the school and look for clues. We can even set up our own video camera." I said.

"While you guys are doing that, I'll compare the Photodocked picture with ones on the iCarly website. Good luck." Carly said.

"Thanks Carls. We'll keep you updated. Bye," said Sam.

"Adios, Carly!" I added.

Carly waved and then her screen went blank. I closed the laptop and turned to Sam, who raised an eyebrow at me.

"Let's get this show on the road." She said.

**************iDefendYou***************

"Sam, is all this really necessary?" I asked. As if it wasn't enough that she had me decked out in a black curly wig, big glasses, baggy pants with suspenders and a mustache, we were sneaking up to the back of the school inside trashcans. I was sure my mother would have some sort of rhyme to warn me against this, not that I cared, but knowing this didn't reduce the strength of the odor I was now inhaling.

"It is absolutely necessary! School's not out yet and someone could recognize us. Now move," She hissed, her clown shoes squeaking as she walked. Under the trashcan she was wearing a full clown outfit, complete with makeup and a pink wig. She tried to make me wear makeup too, but I drew a line at that.

Finally, we came to the lock to the courtyard. Sam came out from under her trashcan, grabbed a bobby pin and started to pick the lock.

"After all this time, I'm still amazed at how you do that," I said as the gate snapped open.

Sam smiled, "Yeah, it's a pretty useful talent."

We entered the courtyard, trying to locate the vandalism on the building. Luckily, it was still on there.

"Wow." Sam said as we finally got a glimpse of what she was being accused of.

"Yeah it's pretty bad," I agreed.

"Pretty bad?! They obviously took a lot of time and spray paint doing this, because it's huge! If someone put something like this on the side of a building about me, I'd be out for blood, too. No wonder Briggs is so cheesed off."

"Don't worry, we'll catch this person, " I pulled out a small surveillance camera with a suction cup on the back from the small backpack I was carrying, "we need to get this up there before we do anything else."

Sam took the camera and climbed on top of a trash can. "I don't think it's going to be high enough. Someone will see it and be able to take it down."

"Okay, then climb on my shoulders." I instantly regretted saying that, because Sam ran over to me and climbed like a monkey, almost pulling down my baggy pants in the process. "Careful!"

"Still not high enough! I'm standing up!" Sam said. She did so despite my protests, tugging at my hair then holding onto the brick wall as she did so. I held onto her feet and watched her carefully.

"Stop looking at my butt!" Sam yelled.

I blushed. "I'm not! I'm trying to watch you so you don't fall."

I felt her feet shifting and I really started to worry.

"Sam, hurry!" I said.

"It's on!" Just as she said that, her foot slipped out of my grip. Sam gasped and held the brick wall tightly. I grabbed her leg quickly, skinning my arm against the wall as I bent down lower to help her get down.

"Are you okay?" I asked when Sam was safely on the ground.

"Yeah, but that was scary. Thanks." She looked at my arm, which was bleeding now. "Ouch. Are you okay?"

"Sure, it's really not that bad." I lied. The cut was actually stinging like crazy. "I'll have to patch it up later, though."

"No, I'm fixing it now." She grabbed the bag I brought and retrieved a tiny first aid kit from it. "Sit down," she ordered, then sat next to me and grabbed an alcohol pad from the kit. "This'll sting, but I'm not doing it on purpose." I knew this but I nodded anyway.

While Sam fixed my arm, I placed my other one on the ground. I felt something on my fingers that felt like plastic. Carefully, I picked it up, thinking either Sam or I lost our driver's license when she almost fell. As I looked it over, I realized it was a school ID from a nearby alternative school. More importantly, in the corner of the ID was a picture of a boy with long, curly blonde hair who strangely resembled Sam.

**I decided to have the villain be a guy since we've already seen two female Sam look-a-likes on the show. (Melanie and the girl from iLookAlike) Good guesses in the reviews! By the way, when I say the guy looks like Sam, I'm not saying that he looks like a girl, and I'm definitely not saying that Sam looks like a guy. I just wanted to go ahead and clarify that. Who is he and why would he be framing Sam? You'll find out in the next few chapters. Thank you for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"What's this Dustin guy doing with my face?" Sam shouted as I showed her the ID.

"My guess is that he had a bad experience with Ms. Briggs and he decided to get his revenge with this lovely disaster." I pointed to the wall. "Other than your reputation and resemblance to him I don't see why he would frame you, though. I think we should check this person out. Let's make a trip to that alternative school and try to find his locker. We can see if he has anything that would prove it was him."

"Wow. Breaking into a locker? You're becoming a real bad boy." She said in approval.

We drove to Acting Out Alternative School and walked through its doors. Luckily for us, Dustin's locker number was printed on his ID. When we got to his locker, Sam pulled a stethoscope out of her bag and began listening for the combination.

"Do I want to know where you got that?" I asked.

"Probably not," Sam answered with a grin.

Finally, Sam pulled the locker door open. A dark purple hoodie fell out.

"My old hoodie!" Sam exclaimed, picking it up.

"If that doesn't prove who did it, I don't know what does!" I said, taking a picture of the evidence.

The bell rang just then. Sam threw the hoodie back in the locker before slamming it shut. She dragged me behind a Wahoo Punch machine beside the locker. I smiled at the convenience of it. After a minute, we watched as the male version of Sam walked up to very same locker. He was talking to a girl with light brown hair.

"I had like five teachers freaking out at me today. Man, I'm going to be in for a major fine if I don't find my ID," he said to the girl as he opened his locker.

"Well, do you want me to go with you to help you look? I don't want you to get in trouble again," she replied.

"N-no. I'll probably be able to find it better on my own."

"Are you sure? We went everywhere together last night," she spotted the girl's hoodie in Dustin's locker and added in a mutter, "at least that's what I thought."

"Carrie, it's nothing like that!" He exclaimed, realizing her assumption, before adding more quietly, "Listen, late last night I did something—something that could get me into trouble and I don't want you to get caught up in it. It's bad enough that you're here because of me."

"Dustin, I've told you, it's not your fault that I was with you that one night. But I wish that you would learn to stop doing bad things. The only place it's going to get you is in jail." Carrie looked up at him, pleading.

"I can't help it, baby." Dustin placed a kiss on her lips. "People do things that I can't let them get away with."

The couple walked off, hand in hand.

Sam turned to me, "I feel bad for her."

"Yeah, her boyfriend is a criminal who wears girl clothes and she doesn't realize it."

Sam shook her head, "What I mean is, he seems to be her complete opposite, but she loves him anyway."

"You never know, it might work out." I said full of hope. In a weird way, the couple we had just witnessed reminded me a bit of Sam and myself. That didn't stop me from wanting to prove that Dustin was responsible for the vandalism, however.

Sam echoed my thoughts, "But we still need to put him in his place. Come on, we're going back to Ridgeway."

"Como?" I asked.

"You heard him. He's going to be looking for his ID." Sam said, "I plan to be there to personally hand it to him."

**Happy New Year everybody! 2014 is going to be awesome, I can feel it! December was crazy, but I managed to finish writing this story. I just need to edit and upload the rest. I came up with a much different ending from what I had originally intended and I wanted to wait until I got everything just right to upload it. Thanks for reading! I own Carrie, Dustin and this story, but not iCarly.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I tried to reason with her. "We set up a video camera! Isn't that enough?"

"No! I'm ready for this to be over. I'm going to make him to explain to me why he did this. You can either come with me or not."

"I'm coming with you! We're in this together, but I'm worried that this guy might be dangerous."

She looked at me smugly, "Are you forgetting who I am?"

Definitely not, I thought. "You aren't invincible, Sam."

"I know, but I'm going, and nothing you can say will stop me."

Before I knew it, we were back in my car driving to the school. _Stubborn girl_. 

****iDefendYou****

After making a pit stop for food and a blanket (and to change into normal clothes) Sam and I sat in the courtyard waiting for our target. We talked, and a few times I considered telling her how I felt, but I stopped myself every time. Carly texted Sam, telling her that it was really late and she needed to go to bed. Carly still hadn't found a matching picture. As it started to get dark, I really wondered whether Dustin would show up tonight after all. He was probably somewhere with Carrie, the ID the last thing on his mind.

"Well, look who it is," Sam whispered to me suddenly.

I squinted my eyes in the darkness. Someone with a blonde ponytail and a purple hoodie with the hood up had just broken the lock to into the courtyard. Their eyes were to the ground. I put my hand on Sam's to keep her from doing anything dangerous.

We quietly observed him for a while. Another hooded person joined him.

"Care-bear, I told you to wait in the car!" Dustin scolded.

Sam broke from my grasp and marched toward them. "So dragging me into this wasn't enough? You had to bring Carrie along, too?"

The two looked at Sam wide-eyed. I face-palmed. I stayed hidden in case I needed to step in and help Sam. Using my Pearphone, I turned on the video camera that we put on the wall of the school.

"I'm sorry, who the heck are you?" Dustin asked, clearly confused.

"You should know." Sam answered crossing her arms.

"Dustin, is something going on with you and this girl?" Carrie's voice cracked.

"No, Carrie," Sam said, her voice softening, "we've never met face to face before this. Dustin Photodocked a picture to look like I was responsible for the vandalism that he did. He's also wearing my old hoodie. I go to this school and they're blaming me for it. I'm suspended now and might even be expelled."

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Hold up," Dustin said, "I don't even know how to Photodock. Also, I got this hoodie from a thrift shop because I needed to disguise myself. How would I have known that there is a _girl_ at this school who kinda looks like me and used to own this? Again, I don't even know who you are, so why would I try to frame you?"

My mind was reeling. He could be lying, but he really sounded sincere.

"Haven't you ever heard of iCarly?" Sam asked the question that had been building in my mind.

"iWhat?" Dustin and Carrie asked in unison.

"Wow, did you people live under a rock?" Sam asked, "I used to be the co-star of a web show called iCarly. Most people recognize me off of it. Name's Sam Puckett."

"Sam, I've never heard of it," Carrie said, "but we both just moved here from another part of Washington."

Sam raised an eyebrow, "It was world-wide. We even won an international award for it. Also, if you just moved here, what would you have against Ms. Briggs?"

"I was doing something, um, bad, one night and Carrie happened to be with me. Briggs caught me and figured Carrie was in on it and sent her to alternative school with me. People at our school are being really mean to her and I can't stand it. I decided to write an unflattering comment about Briggs on the wall as revenge for sending my baby to that awful place." He finished his sentence in an affectionate tone toward his girlfriend. Carrie blushed a bit.

"So it was completely coincidence that you have my hoodie and I'm being blamed for it?"

"Yeah. I didn't mean for anyone to get humiliated, 'cept Briggs. Don't worry, Sam. Tomorrow I'll turn myself in."

"No, Dustin! You can't afford to get in any more trouble. I feel bad about Sam, too, but there has to be another way!" Carrie exclaimed.

"I think it's the right thing for me to do, Carrie."

Sam took the ID out of her pocket. "Well, if you don't, you're never seeing this again. I've heard you'll get a pretty big fine if you have to replace this."

"Were you spying on us this afternoon?" Carrie asked indignantly.

"How else I would I have known your name?" Sam asked slyly. Carrie frowned.

Dustin chuckled, "Relax, Care-bear. Sam is just trying to save her skin."

"Exactly. By the way, I have someone hiding in the shadows who's been helping me the entire time. Fredalope, show yourself."

I took that as my cue to stop recording and join Sam. "Hi, I'm Freddie. I was the technical producer of iCarly."

"Good to meet you, man." Dustin said.

"Hi! Gah, why haven't we ever heard of iCarly?" Carrie asked.

Dustin replied, "I really don't know. Anyway, would you two like to hang out with us? You know, now that you know that I'm not trying to frame you for vandalism?"

Sam and I looked at each other. It was only 6pm. We deserved to have some fun.

"Yeah, sure." Sam said.

"Awesome. I know a place that's great for couples." Dustin said.

"Um, we're not together," I said.

Dustin smirked, "Really? Could've fooled me."

**Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly. This story, Carrie, Dustin and any other OC's are the product of my imagination!**

**Surprise! Someone else is responsible for framing Sam and Dustin isn't such a bad guy after all! **** Dustin is a bit like Sam:******** a mischievous rule-breaker, but willing to do the right thing**. ** Carrie and Dustin are the kind of OC's that you end up writing a lot more about about than you thought you would. This couple will have a big part in my sequel to this story which will be called iProm-ise. I figured it would be interesting if they never heard of iCarly. Sam and Freddie will have to show them what they've been missing out on. Anyway, one chapter is left of iDefend You and one big reveal will be made! Who Photodocked that picture? Find out in the next part. Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**~Important note: This is NOT the last chapter! There is one more chapter after this! More will be explained at the bottom!~**

Chapter 9

I walked out into my living room early the next morning and smiled when I saw Sam, who had again spent the night on the couch. I decided to go make breakfast before she woke up. She was sleeping peacefully, and why wouldn't she? After a long day of detective work we had found that the guilty person was willing to confess. Dustin and Carrie were coming over soon so we could all go to the school together. Even if he backed out, I had everything he told us on camera, but I knew we would feel terrible if we had to do this since we had all become friends last night. Instead of being content, however, I was concerned about the picture. If Dustin didn't do it, then who did?

I finished the bacon and toast I was making and put them on a plate. I decided to wake Sam up.

"Hey, Sam, I've got bacon!" I said tickling her foot.

Sam looked at me sleepily, some of her hair covering her face. "It's too early. Wait. Bacon? Are you trying to get me to fall for you?" She asked groggily.

"Maybe. You will never know," I replied. "Better hurry and wake up, before your egg gets done!"

Sam got up, grabbing bacon and putting it on a plate. I heard a knock at the door. Sam went to get it, revealing Dustin and Carrie.

"Hey guys, care to join us for breakfast?"

The two sat down to eat with us. We talked, and I was reminded of the days when Sam and I would eat breakfast with Carly and Spencer across the hall. It was nice having a group of four again.

"Hey, before it's too late in her time we should Skype Carly to let her know what's going on." I said, pulling out my Pearphone. Dustin, Sam, and Carrie all crowded around me.

As soon as Carly answered she said, "Freddie, Sam! I've been going crazy wanting to find out what happened! I'm so glad you called while I'm at lunch. Wait-who are they?"

"Our new friends Dustin and Carrie. Dustin is the guy from the video yesterday."

"So Dustin is not the person who did it?"

"Oh, he did it." Sam said.

"Wait. Then why are you guys hanging out with him if he's framing Sam?" Carly asked in confusion.

We all giggled. Dustin clarified, "I did spray paint the side of the school. I did not, however, Photodock a picture. We still don't know who's responsible for framing Sam."

"Oh, okay." Carly said. Her tone of voice told me she was just going to go with it.

"So you're the same Carly from iCarly?" Carrie cut in.

"Yes I am! Are you a fan?"

"Actually, I've never seen it. Freddie and Sam are going to fix that though!"

"They better!"

After talking for a little while longer, Carly had to go back to class and signed off after making us promise to tell her what happened later. Dustin decided to go ahead and go to the school to turn himself in, despite the missing picture. I drove everyone over there, parking in the empty student parking lot and we made our way into the school. It was very early, so I was surprised to see Lanny vigorously shaking a locker door.

"Whoa, easy, dude," Dustin said, "don't hurt yourself if you forgot your combination."

"This isn't _my_ locker!" Lanny exclaimed, "I caught the owner misusing the school copy machine yesterday, and now I trying to acquire evidence so I can turn him in to my aunt!"

Sam stepped forward, "Lanny, did anyone ever tell you that you are a snoop and a brown noser?"

"Oohh, brown noser? That's a big word for someone who's going to end up in jail."

"Hey, watch it! You don't know _anything _about Sam!" I shouted.

"Aww, little Freddie Benson is going to defend his girlfriend now?" Lanny asked, getting in my face.

His wording and tone made a memory click with the present moment. Finally, I realized when I had really first met Lanny. "That was you." I growled.

"What?"

"My first day at Ridgeway Elementary, some red-headed punk and his minions decided to surround me and push me around, just because my mom decided to show affection. That punk was you, wasn't he?"

Lanny nodded. "Wow. You're good, Benson. I never really got over your girlfriend shoving me to the ground, though."

"I should be thanking you, because if it wasn't for you I might not have met Sam, but she's not my girlfriend," I said before adding, "I'm not that lucky."

Carrie squealed behind me, jumping up and down. "Y-ou, you—said you're not that lucky! Awwwww!" Carrie stammered as she led Sam down the hall, presumably to do some girl talk. Sam looked at me and I could tell she was trying to hold back a smile.

Dustin fist bumped me, "Girls love it when guys say stuff like that! Sam will date you for sure!"

"She already has!"

"Oh. What happened?"

"I don't really wanna talk about it right now!"

Lanny laughed. "Oh the drama."

"I'm going to ask you this right now, and you better not lie. Are you the person who framed Sam?" I asked.

"No, I'm not. I happen to like my aunt, so why would I do something to keep the actual person who spray painted the side of the school from getting justice? I still think Sam did it, but if you help me open this locker, I'll help you look. Face it, Benson, with my snooping skills you need me."

"I think we can manage on our own." Dustin cut in.

"Who are you anyway?"

With a straight face, Dustin answered, "My name is Indigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!"

I burst out laughing from the pure randomness of it. I heard the girls laughing from down the hall. Lanny just blankly stared at him.

"What the heck?"

"That was a _The Princess Bride _reference in case you guys didn't know," Sam cut in as she came back, "and about your deal, what's in it for us?"

"As I told your beau, you'll have me as a helper."

"Anything else?"

"You really don't know who this locker belongs to, do you?"

We shook our heads.

"Nevel Papperman. I understand that you have some history with him," Lanny told us.

Sam grabbed her stethoscope out of her bag and swiftly started to figure out the combination. Ever since Nevel started at Ridgeway he still nagged us every chance he got.

"Who's Nevel?" Dustin whispered to me.

"A crazed kid who repeatedly tried to ruin iCarly because Carly wouldn't kiss him. I think jealously of our success had something to do with it as well."

"Shhh!" Sam shushed us. "Almost…got it!" She pulled the locker open. A pile of papers fell out.

"Ha! I knew Nevel was going over his daily copy limit! I—hey these are pictures of you two!" Lanny exclaimed, referring to Sam and Dustin.

The photos showed the entire Photodocking process, transforming a photo of Dustin into one with Sam's face on it.

"Called it. Now do you think that Sam did it?"

Lanny nodded no, then pointed to Dustin, "You were the one who wrote that awful thing about my aunt?"

"Hey, she put my girlfriend in alternative school! What I did was wrong, but when you're seeing someone you love be pushed around by some of the worst kids in the state, it makes you kind of crazy."

"Oh, wow. But why get revenge by defacing our school?"

"For the millionth time, Dustin, I'm okay." Carrie said.

"Will you hooligans pipe down!" Ms. Briggs yelled, walking toward us, "I can hear you all the way from the principal's office!"

"Aunt Francine, I think you should look at this."

"Lanny, you're the last person I would suspect to be associating with the likes of these people. Oh…" She said when she reached us and looked down at the photos. "Oh my."

** Nevel did it! I was going to have this chapter be longer and be the last, but there was a lot of information in there and the ending was a bit rushed. So I decided to divide it up and "flesh out" the ideas more. Chapter 10 will be the last, for sure. Also, in the sequel, I'm planning to bring Carly back to Seattle! It's hard to put her in my stories when she's in a different time zone, plus I do miss her! In my next story there's going to be some exciting events happening in the lives of our iCarly people. Did anyone like that _The Princess Bride_ reference? I literally laughed out loud when I thought of Dustin randomly saying it to Lanny, then one of my family members came into the room and gave me the weirdest look, so I had to include it. Haha. Anyway, I will conclude this insanely long author's note by thanking everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. You all inspire me to keep writing! This was my first fanfic that I have published and it means a lot to me that people are enjoying it.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or _The Princess Bride_. All I own is this story and my OC's.  
**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

We sat in the principal's office and told Ms. Briggs our stories. She seemed to be in a strangely reasonable mood today.

"Okay, I realize that, oddly enough, Sam was not responsible for the vandalism outside. Sam and Freddie are no longer suspended. You all, however, will need to serve detention for breaking into Nevel's locker. I'm sorry, Lanny, but that includes you. Nevel will be suspended and Dustin-"

Dustin raised an eyebrow, an expression Sam would make.

Ms. Briggs continued, "You'll probably get community service, plus a court hearing since you don't attend this school. You'll stay in alternative school, but I'm going to call the school board to petition to have Carrie removed, because after speaking with her I do not believe she has any behavioral problems. I realize now that she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. How would you like to attend Ridgeway, Carrie?"

Carrie beamed, "That would be wonderful!"

The rest of us looked at Ms. Briggs in shock.

"What? I can have a heart every now and then." Ms. Briggs said.

After Ms. Briggs was finished talking to the school board about Carrie, I decided to remind her of something. "You should report yourself for pulling Sam's hair yesterday. You know, while you have them on the phone." I said, loudly enough for the person to hear on the other end.

Briggs groaned, "I'd also like to report myself for harassing a student."

****iDefendYou****

As school hours started, Sam, Carrie, and I were sitting outside the principal's office. Dustin went to his school, happy that Carrie was finally out of there. Nevel's name had just been called and we decided to watch his reaction before classes.

Nevel waved "Morning, chumps. Oh, and a new girl…"

"I have a boyfriend." Carrie quickly said.

"Your loss," he said before walking into the office, "why hello, Ms. Briggs." He said as the door swung shut.

After a few minutes, we heard a loud "WHAT?!" from within.

"Serves him right." Sam said.

Nevel marched out of the office and pointed at Sam. "How dare you break into my locker!"

Sam stood up, "How dare you frame me! If we wouldn't have found out what you did, I would have been expelled!"

Nevel looked at all of us dramatically, "Do you know why I did it?! The iCarly URL should have been _mine _when the web show ended. So when I saw someone who looked like Sam vandalizing the school, I snapped a picture and put Sam's face on it, Photodocking it to look like Sam. At least I could have ruined the life of one of the iCarlys like they ruined mine." He wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.

Sam stepped closer to him. "You know what? Ruining someone's chance at a future is more serious than internet fame, Nevel. You need to grow up and stop torturing us for things that happened years ago. I'm almost legally an adult and I am going to graduate and go to college. I don't need you or anyone else trying to mess things up for me, because I'm going places. Oh, and the only one who can ruin _my_ life is me, and believe me that's _never _going to happen."

"Yeah!" I said, pumping my fists. Carrie clapped beside me.

Nevel stood speechless. Sam's little speech had attracted a crowd, and they applauded her, some taking videos. Sam took a bow.

"Thank you," she turned to us, "Now let's get to class."

****iDefendYou****

The next evening, I was in the Groovy Smoothie with Sam, Carrie and Dustin when I heard Sam's voice coming from the T.V. T-Bo had set up. "Hey, T-Bo, could you turn this up?" I asked.

"…I don't need you or anyone else trying to mess things up for me, because I'm going places…."

The rest of Sam's rant played, then cut to a female reporter. "With over five million hits since it was uploaded on Splashface yesterday, this video clip of a strong young woman standing up for herself has gone viral! She has been identified as Sam Puckett, formerly of the web show iCarly, and is seen confronting the person responsible for framing her for a crime she did not commit. He was identified as Nevel Papperman, who is notorious in the internet world for bad behavior. I wouldn't mess with this girl!"

Everyone in the Groovy Smoothie began to cheer, surrounding Sam with congratulations.

"Ok, this deserves a dance party and a round of smoothies on me! You all can rearrange the furniture however you want. Sam, you go girl!" T-Bo said, turning up the music. He turned the lights down and brought out large speakers and a mini multi-colored disco ball. Everyone in the restaurant moved their chairs and tables closer to the walls, creating a dance floor.

"Oh my goodness! Congratulations!" Carrie said as we moved our table.

"Sam, I'm so proud of you. After everything you went through, you deserve this." I told her.

"Yeah, well as long as whoever uploaded the video gives me a cut of the cash. Besides, did I really do anything that great? All I did was yell at Nevel."

Dustin answered, "You asserted yourself with words, instead of violence. It's hard for people like us, so we hit things, spray-paint angry words, and do everything we can to avoid the real issue. Instead of slapping Nevel, you told him how you felt and to stop bugging you, and that's a good thing. At least that's what my counselor tells me."

Sam nodded, "It did make me feel a lot better. Maybe I'll do that more often."

A slow song came on. "Speaking of asserting ourselves," Carrie said, grabbing Dustin's hand. "We're dancing together!"

Dustin chuckled, "Don't have to ask me twice." They headed to a free space.

"Congratulations, Sam. I'm glad to see that something good came from this misunderstanding," a familiar voice said.

I turned to see Ms. Briggs standing behind us. She was holding hands with a man her age.

"Er, thanks, Ms. Briggs." Sam answered.

Briggs led the man out onto the dance floor.

"Ms. Briggs. At the Groovy Smoothie. With a date." I said slowly, trying to wrap my mind around the idea.

"I guess now we know why she was actually in a good mood yesterday," Sam got her phone out, "I'm gonna Skype Carly."

"You do realize it's really late in Italy right now?" I looked over her shoulder so I could talk, too.

"So? If my best friend was the star of a viral web video, I'd want to know right away."

Carly picked up. It was dark, she was wrapped in a blanket and looked sleepy. "Sam?"

"Hey Carly, you know how I told Nevel off, yesterday? Well, someone uploaded a video of it, and it went viral!"

"Wow! Hold on let me pull it up." Carly watched the video. "You didn't even hit him or say anything insulting. I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks!"

"Oh, hey, Freddie, I didn't see you there."

"It's fine."

"Are you guys having a party in the Groovy Smoothie? That's what it looks and sounds like."

"That's what T-Bo said it was."

"Cool. Have fun, I'm going back to sleep. Congratulations and thanks for telling me."

"You're welcome. Bye."

"Bye."

Sam put down the phone and turned to me. "Would you want to dance? You know, as a thank you for helping me."

"Sure." I said, taking her hand.

The song "Still into You" by Paramore was playing. Sam waited until we got really close to the speakers to say something. "Did you mean what you said yesterday about not being lucky enough to be dating me?"

The chorus of the song came on just then, drowning me out as I nervously said, "Yeah, I really did."

"What?!" Sam asked.

"I meant what I said!" I yelled.

"Still can't hear you!"

"YES, I MEANT IT!"

"WHAT?!" Sam grinned.

I realized that Sam was doing this on purpose to mess with me and smiled back. I knew I'd have plenty of chances to tell her exactly how I feel about her, and I would make sure she was listening. For now, I was content spending the night dancing with my rebellious, yet lovable, best friend and hopefully one day girlfriend.

**Happy endings all around! Well, except for Nevel, who once again made himself look bad on the internet. I apologize if the ending is a bit disappointing Seddie-wise. The sequel is going to have a lot more romance for them and for others, as Sam and Freddie finish their Senior year of high school and Carly comes back home. I have big plans for our characters! First chapter of iProm-ise should be up this weekend! Thank you everyone for all of your support. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or the song "Still into You" by Paramore. I only own this story, including any original characters.**


End file.
